Well-known member

I was reading through some HTH material and it kept saying that while using chlorinating tablets you should shock once a week during swim season. Then I remembered the advise the pool store gave me when I first went in there after acquiring the pool, and they also said to "shock" once a week. <<although, i should mention that they told me that shock was a product and not a verb. Then my brother and father-in-law also shock about once a week.

After all this thinking, I remember all the reading about the BBB method, and people saying they hardly ever have to "shock" the pool, just go about adding 1 gallon a day.

This will be my first season of dedication to the BBB method and want to know, do you guys have to shock the pool after heavy use, or do you do it on a weekly basis? Also, why is it that people doing the "traditional" method have to do so much extra work, are the tablets not as effective and thus have to constantly make adjustments to the chlorine?

The gurus will be here soon...
but in the meantime, this relative newbie (beginning 3rd season) has had to shock, let's see--- no, not 'had' to shock. Well wait, we started with a green slime pit, aka green pond, and we did have to shock for almost a week to clear. Then, sometime in season two, DH thought we 'should' shock because he scooped out a little dead critter..... and I had to agree to shock even though the water tested ZERO for CC's. So, that was last season and, well that was the only time I can remember shocking :-D During swim season we test the pH & FC every day and do full set of tests weekly.

We use Jason's PoolCalculator to determine the correct amount of chlorine for dosing....meaning we do not "add a gallon a day", but we add the correct amount to maintain the FC level we want/need.

Shocking typically is used to clear a pool that has developed excessive CC's or algae or something else organic. You only shock when your tests indicate the need (CC's) or something visually tells you it's time. (A "chlorine" smell around your pool is a good indicator to shock, as well) A properly maintained pool will seldom require shocking.

Pool stores (and others) tell you to shock weekly because it's simple and you don't have to test or think about why you're doing it.....you just do it (and you spend more money at the pool store).

I've said many times that BBB is not wildly innovative or a new, secret approach. It simply involves knowing your pool water and discovering that you can use many ordinary household products to take care of your pool and keep your money in your pocket. It's all based on understanding pool water chemistry and testing your pool to find out what parameters, if any, you need to adjust.

Shocking is necessary on the occassions your pool gets out of whack. Maintaining your pool properly will keep it from getting that way.

Well-known member

Shocking typically is used to clear a pool that has developed excessive CC's or algae or something else organic. You only shock when your tests indicate the need (CC's) or something visually tells you it's time. (A "chlorine" smell around your pool is a good indicator to shock, as well) A properly maintained pool will seldom require shocking.

Pool stores (and others) tell you to shock weekly because it's simple and you don't have to test or think about why you're doing it.....you just do it (and you spend more money at the pool store).

I've said many times that BBB is not wildly innovative or a new, secret approach. It simply involves knowing your pool water and discovering that you can use many ordinary household products to take care of your pool and keep your money in your pocket. It's all based on understanding pool water chemistry and testing your pool to find out what parameters, if any, you need to adjust.

Shocking is necessary on the occassions your pool gets out of whack. Maintaining your pool properly will keep it from getting that way.

It's better to add chlorine, including for shocking, at night since it stays at a high level for longer (due to lack of sunlight at night).

For my pool, I've gone several years without shocking and only needed to shock once last year when the usage in the pool was higher and my wife wasn't rubbing in the suntan lotion as well so more globs would get into the water. Since she was using the pool almost every day, I shocked with non-chlorine shock (potassium monopersulfate, MPS) so as to avoid higher chlorine levels for swimming and to clear the water faster. With the non-chlorine shock, the surface film (I tried scum balls, but they didn't work for me) went away in one day. If I used chlorine at shock level, it might have taken two days (based on one other experience years ago) and is what I would have done if my wife wasn't using the pool so frequently (I didn't want to expose her to shock levels, though technically it's still far lower than what she is exposed to in an indoor pool during the winter that has no CYA in it).

Because I have an opaque electric safety cover on the 16,000 gallon pool when not in use, I only add an average of about 2 cups of 12.5% chlorinating liquid each day (that's around 1 ppm FC per day) though I actually add it only twice a week at a correspondingly larger dose of around 6-8 cups each time.

In your case with a 30,000 gallon pool, that's nearly double the size of my pool so will take double the amount of chlorine to achieve the same FC level. Also, unless your pool is covered and protected from the UV rays of sunlight most of the time, then you can expect to have a higher chlorine demand than I do -- at least double at 2 ppm FC per day if not more (partly depends on your CYA level). Without an opaque cover, you'll probably need to add chlorine every day. You might consider getting The Liquidator talked about in this thread. A saltwater chlorine generator (SWG) would be another option for easier maintenance.

I have had my pool for 10 months and the pool is open all year and I never had to shock. Using Ben's best guess chart my CL level range is between 3-5ppm of CL. I usually keep my pool around 3 ppm. When I have heavy bather load or after a bunch of kids I take it up to the higher range of 5 and have never had an issue. I also bring the CL level to the higher range before a pool party when I will have 20 kids in the water.

BBB is the way to go but it does require some work about 5 min a day and 1 hr a week to brush and check all chemicals. Some people prefer not to bother and shock weekly. I am amazed of all the pools in South FL that has a pool service and they only come once a week and dump gallons of CL once a week. I guess they bring up CL levels up to 15ppm or so and let it come down gradually until the following week and start the process again. I would love to test my neighbors pool the day before his service shows up to see exactly what his numbers are.

Member

I have had my pool for 16 years. For the first 14 I used traditional pool products and I think I needed to shock the pool every couple of weeks. Two years ago I discovered BBB and I think I shocked it once each summer. I am not convinced that it is the products I am using, I think it has more to do with paying closer attention to what is going on and adding the proper amount of bleach each (or every other) day.

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